Jelli Closes Funding Round led by Intel and Relay

Jelli, a socialradio platform, has closed a $9 million round of funding led by new investors Intel Capital and Relay Ventures. Existing investor First Round Capital and individual investors including Roger Ames, former chairman of EMI Music also participated.

PRESS RELEASE

Jelli, the socialradio platform, today announced that it has closed a $9 million round of funding led by new investors Intel Capital and Relay Ventures, with participation from existing investor First Round Capital and individual investors including Roger Ames, former chairman of EMI Music. The funding will be used for product development and sales growth. Intel Capital and Relay Ventures have received seats on the company’s board of directors.

“Relay Ventures and Intel Capital’s deep experience and global scale with mobile and cloud computing will be invaluable to Jelli as we seek to develop a new platform for the radio industry,” said Mike Dougherty, CEO of Jelli.

Additionally, Jelli announced that over 70 affiliates across the United States now use the Jelli Platform, increasing listeners of Jelli-powered programming by 250% over the last twelve months, to approximately 2 million listeners per month. During that same time frame, total ad impressions served by the Jelli Platform increased by over 500%, to over 60 million per month. Jelli’s radio affiliate partners saw increases in ratings, revenue, online traffic and Facebook Page Likes at their stations, due to the use of the Jelli Platform.

Jelli is a social radio platform that combines group listening with game mechanics to make radio more social and fun. Jelli empowers listeners to crowdsource playlists on actual FM radio stations. These listeners become the DJs, using their browsers and Jelli’s iPhone and Android apps to take over the broadcast by voting for the songs they want to hear in real-time. Listeners engage with other users in live chat rooms and through Facebook, creating community and a highly social experience. Jelli’s cloud-based platform broadcasts this user-controlled programming in realtime on air on terrestrial FM radio stations across the United States. Jelli’s platform also serves terrestrial radio spots on air, creating a new way for affiliates and advertisers to leverage the reach of radio with the engagement and measurement of the web.

“Jelli creates an active feedback loop for traditional radio broadcasts that drives value for listeners, stations and advertisers alike,” said Christine Herron, Director at Intel Capital. “Through its cloud platform, Jelli delivers real-time measurement andcross-platform engagement to an established medium, and disrupts a massive market.”

“Jelli bridges offline and online media, transforming how audiences and advertisers engage with a $40 billionglobal market,” said Kevin Talbot, managing partner of Relay Ventures. “Jelli is part of a huge trend to improve the real world by harnessing powerful and simple mobile experiences.”

About Relay Ventures
Relay Ventures is an early stage venture capital firm that invests in passionate entrepreneurs disrupting and creating new markets through mobile technologies. Unlike other funds, Relay exclusively focuses on software for mobile devices and the connected Internet, creating an unparalleled set of networks and resources that tangibly help founders build world-class companies. With offices in Menlo Park and Toronto, the firm is active throughout North America.

About Intel Capital
Intel Capital, Intel’s global investment and M&A organization, makes equity investments in innovativetechnology start-ups and companies worldwide. Intel Capital invests in a broad range of companies offering hardware, software, and services targeting enterprise, mobility, health, consumer Internet, digital media, semiconductor manufacturing and cleantech. Since 1991, Intel Capital has invested more than US$10.7 billion in over 1,249 companies in 52 countries. In that timeframe, 200 portfolio companies have gone public on various exchanges around the world and 304 were acquired or participated in a merger. In 2011, Intel Capital invested US$526 million in 158 investments with approximately 51 percent of funds invested outside the U.S. and Canada.

About Jelli
Jelli is a social radio platform that combines the reach of radio with the engagement of the web. Jelli’s consumer experience fuses group listening with game mechanics to make radiomore social and fun. Listeners control radio playlists through real-time voting and game elements, via free iPhone and Android apps and web experience. Jelli’s advertising platform enables real-time ad serving and listener engagement across social, mobile and broadcast platforms, creating unique insights for advertisers. Jelli is available online and on FM radio stations across the United States.